AMERICA

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Fables are stories that have a lesson in ethics in the end. Aesop's Fables have been used for centuries to pass a lesson onto our progeny. In bible speak these types of lessons are called Parables. Sometimes the moral of the story needs to be updated, in order to fit the specific agenda of the lesson planner. For example let's look at the story of "THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER."
Back before the days or Sesame Street re-imaging, The Ants were a hard working commune that planned ahead.. They provided a means of sustenance and shelter from the famine and chill of winter that was certain to come. There industrious efforts were continually interrupted by a lazy Grasshopper, who chided the ants for always working and never taking a break. The ants tried many times to warn the grasshopper, that if he didn't take the situation seriously, He would not survive the winter. And in the end the ants were right. The lazy, shiftless, lay-about grasshopper, continued in his scoffing ignorance. And he did not survive the winter. The lesson was clear. "You need to plan for your future. And work to support yourself and your family."
Then sometime in the 60s, when LBJ instituted the "Great Society", welfare system, where for the first time in US history, able bodied, non-elderly people were allowed to collect money, food-stamps, medicare and housing subsidies. The Ants & Grasshopper story was changed. The grasshopper was no longer a lazy bum. But now he was a day-dreamer, poet, minstrel. The ants were still a hard working, planning and preparing group. They still tried to warn the hopper. But in the end the ants opened their larder and fed and sheltered the hopper. The lesson was now, "Be a dreamer, a schemer, a burden on society. The Government will provide for you and all the children you can spawn."
The problem is that this Fable is in the public domain. And may be changed by anyone, at any time to suit any purpose under heaven. This had noting to due with the Hippie movement. Rule #1 in the Communes around 1960s California, was: "If you don't work. You don't eat."
At this point I'm about to jump off the high dive into the deep end, and share a bible lesson with you. If you quit reading at this point I can't blame you. Given the relative stupidity of religious pundits like Pat Robertson, blaming God for the devastation in Port Au Prince, Haiti. What could you expect to hear from a grizzled old war vet, dressed in black leather, toting a gun, riding a Harley and thumping on a bible?

Well here goes. MATTHEW 18:35, THE PARABLE OF THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt."
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything."

The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt..."

Does this sound like anything going on in America today?
The King in this story is The US Government. The Rich debtor is Bank of America, and Chase Manhattan Banks. The King gave them even more money and forgave their debts. Basically because these two were too large to fail. Meaning that if they went under, we would all go down the drain with them. And now these ungrateful misers in turn, foreclose the mortgages on the out of work people who owe them a minor debt compared to the one they had been forgiven. They didn't give the little guy a break. Even though the money the bank got bailed out with came from the taxes of the very people they are evicting. Now the government is in a process that will make more laws to keep the banks in line. But the new laws do nothing that addresses the real problem. There is only one solution to the problem. If Bank Of America and Chase Manhattan are too big. They must be made smaller. But we must keep big government out of the banking industry.
How? Easy!
If you bank at one of the big banks. Fire them. No. Not Abey Hoffman style. Move your money out of BofA or Chase and put it in a credit union.FIRE YOUR BANK! MAKE SURE THEY ARE NEVER "TOO BIG TO FAIL" AGAIN.
Thus endeth the lesson.